How much money do college coaches make?

Discussion in 'College & Amateur Soccer' started by UNCGSOCCER, Oct 22, 2009.

  1. UNCGSOCCER

    UNCGSOCCER New Member

    Aug 17, 2006
    Does anyone have any information as to what the average salary for DI, DII, DIII, and NAIA coaches are around the country? (also assistants)

    I know the coaches salary depends on numerous things such as experience, masters degree, and licences but I was trying to find some averages. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
     
  2. Dsocc

    Dsocc Member

    Feb 13, 2002
    D1 salaries cover a pretty broad range, from maybe $30K+ to over $150K, and reflect the emphasis the school puts on the program. If you picked a range for the median of $60K-$80K, you'd be generous. Good benefits are major draw.
     
  3. Sandon Mibut

    Sandon Mibut Member+

    Feb 13, 2001
    There's also base salary and then what a coach can draw from camps using the school's facilities.

    A lot of coaches supplement their income with camps and for a few it's pretty damn lucrative.

    Then there are things like coaching youth soccer (which most assistant coaches do just to make ends meet) and ODP.

    In the pre MLS days coaches could get a decent chunk of money from a shoe deal but these days most of the shoe companies focus in the US is in MLS. I've heard funny stories about the shoe reps in the late 90s having to go to some of the big name college coaches like Sigi and Schellas and have to tell them that their money from Nike or Adidas or whatever was going to cut dramatically and the meetings not going very well.

    You can make a decent living coaching college soccer but no one is doing it to get rich. The upside is that there isn't much pressure and there is usually good job security... as long as you don't beat your kids or flaunt the rules to stack your team with Germans and Ghanans.
     
    chungachanga repped this.
  4. Vilhelm

    Vilhelm Member

    Sep 9, 2005
    It's Ghanaians. C'mon Sandon.
     
  5. Dsocc

    Dsocc Member

    Feb 13, 2002
    All very true. But if the question involves how much money the typical D1 school is actually willing to pay a head coach, a $60k-$80 median is fairly representative.
     
  6. Sandon Mibut

    Sandon Mibut Member+

    Feb 13, 2001
    [​IMG]
     
    StyleAndRhythm repped this.
  7. to look but we

    to look but we New Member

    Feb 15, 2007
    Who are the highest paid coaches in each league and how much do they make in salary not extras?
    D1, D2, D3, NAIA, JUCO
     
  8. socfan60

    socfan60 Member

    May 6, 2001
    Compared to what? In a college/university setting more coaches are fired than administrators or profs. A few "off" years or a couple of whiney kids and you are gone.
    They aren't catching bad guys or fighting fires so yes, in the real sense, not much pressure. But in terms of "I better do my job because my boss doesn't really care about what I do so If it is easier for him to fire me than keep me, I am gone" There is more pressure than most. Plus how many people have their day to day job performance critiqued in the papers or on websites?
     
  9. UNCGSOCCER

    UNCGSOCCER New Member

    Aug 17, 2006
    Yes I agree there is a lot of pressure on most college coaches. Regardless, Im just trying to find out what the averages are for the various levels of college coaching. (also assistants)

    Im really not concerned with camp funds because I know that is how most coaches make extra cash. Im trying to figure out how much colleges and universitys are paying on average in base salary. Any help would be appreciated once again.
     
  10. Mr_HoseHead

    Mr_HoseHead Member

    Nov 6, 2005
    Maybe - for a fairly small and visible minority of higher-profile schools - this might be at least somewhat accurate. However, for the vast number of coaches in non-revenue producing sports there are other criteria for their institutions that may regularly trump a W/L record. Coaching a non-revenue collegiate sport does not have "more pressure than most" and there are a lot of mediocre-at-best folks coaching for a lot of years. And as far as coaches vs. academics, "publish or perish" never died. Firing an academic doesn't show up on these forums, but at least anecdotally in our small part of that universe not granting tenure is still surprisingly frequent and the polite path to fairly invisible but fairly constant academic turnover.
     
  11. socfan60

    socfan60 Member

    May 6, 2001
    Not getting tenure is not the same as getting fired- it is not getting hired/promoted. If you include that in the conversation you have to include all of the Asst coaches who never get head jobs.
    I certainly do not mean to be beating the drum for the difficulty/pressure of College Coaching because, as I said, in the real world it's not life or death and there are plenty of people who do make life or death decisions every day- that is pressure. I just don't think "low pressure " is an accurate description. The job is public and open to criticism from all directions- from the media ( even if it is just the school paper) to parents, fans etc. Do people get on a board and discuss your competence and the decisions you make at work? And we have seen those discussions for coaches at all levels here.
     
  12. collegesoccer

    collegesoccer Member+

    Apr 11, 2005
    Bowling Green, Wright State, Western Michigan, Valparaiso, and many more. Just a few examples of coaches getting fired at not really high profile programs for non performance. On average 10% of the jobs open every year with the majority being "resigned" or non renewal of contract.
     
  13. Dsocc

    Dsocc Member

    Feb 13, 2002
    And all truly stinko progams at the time. That said, all it takes for most of these schools is just to finish in the top 1/2 of the conference, make the tournament, be considered competitive, and have a decent team GPA.

    I suppose that could be considered as "pressure". But when the criteria is, as often as not, "...just give us a .500 team with good grades...", that's not a particularly stressful situation.
     
  14. oldguyfc

    oldguyfc New Member

    Sep 26, 2006
    Chicago
    Maybe the biggest understatement I've ever read here.
     
  15. UNCGSOCCER

    UNCGSOCCER New Member

    Aug 17, 2006
    numbers people......numbers still no one is responding to my initial post
     
  16. firestorm225

    firestorm225 Member

    Aug 25, 2006
    San Francisco
    You can look up all the coaches from California public colleges & universities here:

    http://www.sacbee.com/statepay/

    Some samples from the University of California system (It's regular pay followed by total pay; the website doesn't explain these terms)

    Vom Steeg/UCSB: $90,000/$97,440
    Salcedo/UCLA: $93,500/$171,309
    Grimes/California: $95,000/$225,650

    Pascale/UCSD: $48,333/$48,333 (Division II)
     
  17. UNCGSOCCER

    UNCGSOCCER New Member

    Aug 17, 2006
    Thank you firestorm. That helps!
     
  18. Mr_HoseHead

    Mr_HoseHead Member

    Nov 6, 2005
    You're right, being denied tenure is technically not being fired - it is more a euphemism for a polite lay-off. You are effectively told that you do not have an employment future with that institution so please go away.

    And yes, coaches at schools w/ less-than-stellar records do get let go. It does happen occasionally and that's partly why we remember those situations. However, those 4 schools comprise less than 2% of D1 Men's soccer - there are other fields of employment that often see ~10-20% turnover every year (and working in such a field and knowing that is pressure). There are plenty of programs who had worse records than those 4, have done that for many years (examples of 10 to 22 years in D1 are easy to find) and those coaches will still be employed until they "resign" (their kid(s) finished college) or retire. That's not exactly pressure...

    The whole point of this thread was college coach income. The numbers posted are for some of those more highly visible programs - yes, they get paid more and there's some pressure associated with that visibility. With the exception of those high-visibility positions it is just not as highly paid a position as many, many other occupations.
     
  19. Dsocc

    Dsocc Member

    Feb 13, 2002
    They did, but you didn't like what you read. The median salary is, generously, in the $60K-$80K range. Not $100K. Not $200K. Not $500K. But much less than $100K. So, if you were to acquire all of the D1 salaries, of what use would the information be, except to conclude that coaching salaries are generally on par with those of public HS teachers. :confused:
     
  20. Mr_HoseHead

    Mr_HoseHead Member

    Nov 6, 2005
    OK - numbers. These are all Average (Total) Salary numbers, per the latest NCAA Gender Equity Report:

    D1 overall: Head Coach $78,600, Asst Coach $43,500 (1.7 Assts)
    D1-FBS: Head Coach $101,500, Asst Coach $65,800 (1.7 Assts)
    D1-FCS: Head Coach $63,000, Asst Coach $26,700 (1.6 Assts)
    D1-w/o FB: Head Coach $75.000, Asst Coach $40,700 (1.7 Assts)
    D-II: Head Coach $36,100, Asst Coach $10,300 (1.4 Assts)
    D-III: Head Coach $25,500, Asst Coach $5,801 (1.5 Assts)

    The D1-FBS numbers do appear to skew the average a bit higher than I'd have guessed, but then that does go with being in a place where there's probably more visibility and attention placed on the year-to-year outcomes.

    Google is your friend, too - LINK: http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/0462e7804e0d4e469171f11ad6fc8b25/GenderEquityRept-Final.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=0462e7804e0d4e469171f11ad6fc8b25
     
  21. Dsocc

    Dsocc Member

    Feb 13, 2002
    Thank you. And yes, just under $80,000/year. High school teacher with a good bit of tenure. Who'd have thought? :rolleyes:
     
  22. UNCGSOCCER

    UNCGSOCCER New Member

    Aug 17, 2006
    Dsocc yes I did in fact see that post before. But I was curious as to what coaches at ALL levels make, not just DI coaches. I am possibly looking into college coaching so that is the reason I am inquiring about salaries.

    Thank you Mr Hosehead those numbers are very helpful.
     
  23. collegesoccer

    collegesoccer Member+

    Apr 11, 2005
    These are all sport figures not just for soccer. They include hockey, baseball, etc which pays much more than soccer.
     
  24. Dsocc

    Dsocc Member

    Feb 13, 2002
    Except on page 19, which indicates Men's Soccer HC @ $78,600 average, out of 191 schools reporting.
     
  25. collegesoccer

    collegesoccer Member+

    Apr 11, 2005
    Oh, ok. Did not look that far into it. Good catch.
     

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